Hey - are you planning on warning her off the Reaper IFF mission to do loyalty missions first? (Personally, my completionist instincts took over when the IFF mission showed up, since I suddenly had a chance to delay the main plot without consequence. Turns out that was a good plan!)
Also, it's somewhat worth saving some quick side-missions until after the game if you want to unlock all of Legion's dialogue. Or you can mod/youtube to get the dialogue instead...
Hey - are you planning on warning her off the Reaper IFF mission to do loyalty missions first? (Personally, my completionist instincts took over when the IFF mission showed up, since I suddenly had a chance to delay the main plot without consequence. Turns out that was a good plan!)
Also, it's somewhat worth saving some quick side-missions until after the game if you want to unlock all of Legion's dialogue. Or you can mod/youtube to get the dialogue instead...
Note - She knows many spoilers about the overall plot, and has not problem with knowing that, or knowing a generally 'optimal' path. However, I don't constantly tell her things, the experience is still really new to her, and she is quite free and willing to take alternate paths.
That said, yep, she knows to put off the Reaper IFF mission (well she doesn't know its called that, but she gets the gist). We plan on doing all content available in ME2-ME3, so forgoing Loyalty missions isn't gonna happen unless she somehow REALLY hates a character or something. We are not necessarily going to be 'completionist', but we're aiming for a full experience. Skipping UNC in ME1 is one thing, but skipping Loyalty in ME2 and Secondary in ME3 is another.
I think for Legion we may end up just checking the Youtube bit.
Thanks for posting 
April 3, 2015
Fourteenth Visit
Level 16 Sentinel
Throw Lv 2
Warp Lv 2
Tech Armor - Power Armor Lv 4
Overload Lv 1
Cryo Blast Lv 0
Defender - Guardian Lv 4
Fortification Lv 1
-Playtime consisted of getting Tali, getting Jack's Loyalty (very important!), finishing the content on the Illium hub, and getting Samara.
-MORDIN AND GRUNT ALL THE TIME EVERY TIME (except needing Jack for her loyalty, we brought only Grunt).
-Good reaction to Tali (more or less), thought Samara was pretty cool. Dunno how much she'll use either though. Talks with Thane are fun.
-Definitely getting more into the roleplay style of "Alright, I'll ask everything I can, I'll learn everything I can. And then I'll do what I want and it'll probably be volatile." Its a Shepard Solas.
-No more Zaeed. Boring. Boo. Go away. We don't bother to chat with him anymore.
-Reeger somehow survived. Guess we killed the Colossus fast enough
-Nearly 3 bars Renegade! 1.75 bars through Paragon. ALMOST TERMINATOR.
Next up is a mix of Loyalty and whatever else. IMO chances are we're taking a trip to Tuchanka to get the Loyalty of Dany's best buddies Mordin and Grunt (Jack already covered). If we have the time beyond that, it'll be sidequests I think, while we chat. After this, I'll do more planet scanning on my own.
Ah and yes, I forgot, we may be interrupted by the Collector Ship mission, of course.
EDIT: Oh yeah, and Jack shot the guy. Dany (player) didn't like to do it, but ultimately, getting that Loyalty was what mattered, not the guy's life. Damn rutheless woman...
April 7, 2015
Fifteenth Visit
Level 17 Sentinel
Throw Lv 3
Warp Lv 2
Tech Armor - Power Armor Lv 4
Overload Lv 2
Cryo Blast Lv 0
Defender - Guardian Lv 4
Slam Lv 2 (changed from Fortification)
-Playtime consisted of going to and exploring Tuchanka and doing Grunt's Loyalty mission. Of course we had to! Grunt is turning out to be THE staple of Dany's team, never ever to leave. We brought Tali to Tuchanka but Jack for the mission, because she seemed like the arena fighting sort (how right that was! see: Citadel DLC).
-Was really nice seeing Wrex again!!!
-Did the side content like shooting the pyjaks, varren fighting.
-Over 3 bars Renegade now, changing her look again. Almost 2 bars Paragon.
-Toured the Normandy again and started up the Collector Ship mission, but I'll be reloading an earlier save in order to do planet scanning on my own and get us more sidemissions available and minerals for research.
Next up is Collector Ship and either Loyalty or we'll get started on some DLC or sidemissions. If we go for Loyalty, it'll be someone other than Mordin first, then Mordin, and we'll have Dany's favorites all Loyal and things will be 'whatever' in terms of order at that point. Maybe Samara's Loyalty.
Half way through the game now (12/23) - not counting sidemissions and DLC, at which that would be changed to something like 2/5 or 1/3. Pretty good. A couple or few more visits and we'll be into 'late game', more or less.
May 5, 2015
Sixteenth Visit
Level 19 Sentinel
Throw Lv 3
Warp Lv 2
Tech Armor - Power Armor Lv 4
Overload Lv 2
Cryo Blast Lv 1
Defender - Guardian Lv 4
Slam Lv 3
-Playtime consisted of completing the Collector Ship mission and heading out to do Kasumi's Loyalty mission. It was an easy source for Renegade points and a good bump in mission quality to keep her interested, even though Dany isn't particularly impressed with Kasumi herself.
-Renegade talked DH, Renegaded almost everything really, but as always, a little Paragon shone through.
-Well over 3 bars Renegade. Just nearly 2 bars Paragon.
-I had to take over for much of the combat. Collector Ship got tricky and Kasumi's mission wasn't something I wanted her to struggle on (limited time this evening) so I did it all with her direction, and it was actually pretty difficult (though I'm also rusty).
14/23 missions done I guess - not counting sidemissions or DLC, so 2/3 done if that's by itself, or I guess closer to 1/2 done otherwise.
Next up is... I don't know, we didn't talk about it! If its a shorter visit then it is more likely we squeeze in 2 Loyalty missions, but otherwise we'll do 1-2 Loyalty missions + exploration around the galaxy (sidemissions). I think she's leaning towards getting Mordin's Loyalty next, which makes sense.
June 11, 2015
Seventeenth Visit
Level 22 Sentinel
Throw Lv 3
Warp Lv 2
Tech Armor - Power Armor Lv 4
Overload Lv 2
Cryo Blast Lv 1
Defender - Guardian Lv 4
Slam Lv 3
(haven't spent new points yet)
-Playtime was extensive (for us)! It consisted of three Loyalty missions: Mordin, Garrus, Jacob.
-Maelon was spared and the data was kept, but Dany respected Mordin's journey on this. Mordin is definitely Dany's favorite or second favorite.
-Sidonis was killed, but only because Dany wasn't fast enough on the Paragon Interrupt trigger. We could have done this over, but it actually felt true to character (her being nice sometimes, but not to the point of really, quickly, going our of her way). She accepted it.
-Jacob's father was left to face the wrath of the survivors. Dany thought the mission was cool, but Jacob is still boring, and she didn't like the writing very much - Jacob seemed too quick to regard his father as evil without getting enough details.
-3.5 bars Renegade, a little over 2 bars Paragon. We'd like to at least reach 4 bars Renegade (prefer full though), and to NOT reach 3 bars Paragon, but that may still happen given how nice Dany can be *sometimes*.
-Jacob romance is never gonna happen. Garrus Romance is likely not gonna happen. Thane romance MAY happen, but we don't know. Either Liara continue or Thane... let's just see.
Now we're definitely half way through the game, including all content. And definitely over 2/3 if we only count the bigger missions of the game (no DLC, no sidemissions). Still several more visits to go.
Next up is.. a choice:
-A few more loyalty missions (Miranda, Zaeed, Thane, Samara). We're leaving Tali's to happen along with Legion's.
-A ton of sidemissions, exploring, shopping at hubs.
-Crash Site + Firewalker + Overlord in one visit if possible. Max 2.
-Lair of the Shadow Broker in one visit.
We're leaning towards either finishing up Loyalty or the Crash+Fire+Overlord deal. Sidemissions may be nearly the last things done before Reaper IFF, and we haven't decided when to place Lair of the Shadow Broker (before or after the end? most likely is after all Loyalties except Tali+Legion, but before the Suicide Mission).
She is also eagerly awaiting E3, given our discussions about my theories and ideas of the future.
Although I haven't posted before, I remember reading some of the earlier entries. It's weird how interesting this kind of thread is (I think ShotgunJulia had a similar playthrough with her mother?) - I wonder if it's because we (or at least I) get to relive, to a limited degree, that first-time experience that we will never get to feel again?
Whatever the case, looking forward to more updates in the future
we haven't decided when to place Lair of the Shadow Broker (before or after the end? most likely is after all Loyalties except Tali+Legion, but before the Suicide Mission).
A personal recommendation is to save Liara's visit (no matter if your friend continues the romance or not) to the Normandy for after the Suicide Mission. In my opinion, the dialogue works better with the focus being on the Reapers and not the Collectors incidentally, this is one of my favourite moments of the series - finally someone asking "Hey, how are you feeling?" and not just assuming you're a superhuman. Also, I'm curious how your friend's Shepard will feel about that being heavily Renegade usually aligns with confidence, but I wonder what Dany Shepard will respond here.
April 3, 2015
EDIT: Oh yeah, and Jack shot the guy. Dany (player) didn't like to do it, but ultimately, getting that Loyalty was what mattered, not the guy's life. Damn rutheless woman...
A bullet in the head solves everything.....
I know that now.
Although I haven't posted before, I remember reading some of the earlier entries. It's weird how interesting this kind of thread is (I think ShotgunJulia had a similar playthrough with her mother?) - I wonder if it's because we (or at least I) get to relive, to a limited degree, that first-time experience that we will never get to feel again?
Whatever the case, looking forward to more updates in the future
A personal recommendation is to save Liara's visit (no matter if your friend continues the romance or not) to the Normandy for after the Suicide Mission. In my opinion, the dialogue works better with the focus being on the Reapers and not the Collectors
I honestly think it works better in either position, as long as it feels like Shepard has a sort of 'break' between activities.
It is Arrival that is more screwy. The first part of it (Prison) sure feels like it works well early on, but the second half (Project) is DEFINITELY far far far more appropriate for after dealing with the Collectors.
But LOTSB is whatever. Its Liara's 'Loyalty mission' and it doesn't distract matters so far that it feels out of place before the Suicide Mission IMO. And I actually do find it fitting enough for Liara to wonder how I'm feeling about to head into the Collector Base just as much as heading into the Reaper Invasion.
In any case, we are not likely to play LOTSB for a few more sessions. Priority is on Loyalty, smaller DLC, and sidemissions.
That's a good question about Dany Shepard. It could go either way. Dany is rather violent, doesn't take hassle from others etc - but she isn't unfeeling or psychopathic. She definitely cares about the Krogan, the general fate of humanity, and she clearly regards some people as increasingly close friends, so there has to be something weighing on her - I just don't know how much. There's also the aspect that Dany is open to the concept of the galaxy/universe being far beyond her understanding, in itself - even if she quickly snaps back to not giving a damn and sticking to the goal. I can see Dany being unsure about success, but just as much, I can see Dany being committed to it nonetheless.
There's a reason why Paragon and Renegade have been so close, I guess - even as Dany has been more Renegade inclined.
Hopefully we can squeeze in another session in the next 1-2 weeks.
June 11, 2015
Eighteenth Visit
Level 24 Sentinel
Throw Lv 3
Warp Lv 2
Tech Armor - Power Armor Lv 4
Overload Lv 2
Cryo Blast Lv 1
Defender - Guardian Lv 4
Slam - Crippling Slam Lv 4
-Its been forever! Dany has been very busy with work and I've been more social with other people. Very glad to catch up and play some Mass Effect!
-Playtime consisted of Thane's Loyalty mission and we squeezed in time for Samara's Loyalty Mission.
-I took over for the tracking of Thane's Target but failed for the first time ever! So ashamed.
-Dany beat up (but not completely) the criminal and grazed Thane's son, but everything (other than my failure) turned out okay. Loyalty gained.
-I could tell Samara's mission was very fun for Dany. Sadly (not that it matters) she seemed to have been just shy of the Renegade required to fully resist Morinth, but she wanted to keep Samara so no biggie. I don't think Dany especially dislikes both Thane and Samara, but she doesn't particularly love them either.
-Spend some extra time clearing out most of the Omega sidemissions. Got the quarian's shop bought out, got Patriarch killed in battle, that sorta stuff.
-Almost 4 bars Renegade, and kept a little over 2 bars Paragon. 
-Thane romance seems like a no-go. Jacob was already a quick decline. Only Garrus seems at all possible now, but seems unlikely as well. Biggest possibilities: Dany stays with Liara, especially through an enjoyable LOTSB experience, or there will be a break up and a fresh start (Kaidan? Samantha? No one? Repatch with Liara?) in ME3. I think Thane is too spiritual and maybe weird for Dany (not bad for friendship, not good for love).
On the home stretch for the main content, but still a while to go if we include all content.
Next up:
-Zaeed and Miranda's Loyalty missions are very likely, but maybe not both together in one visit.
-Crash Site + Firewalker+Overlord are much more likely to try.
-Lair of the Shadow Broker is also much more likely to try, but not sure if we're going to do it before or after the Suicide Mission.
If Its a long visit, I can see us doing a mix of one Loyalty and one or more DLCs.
Also watched a (French) video.
Tomorrow should be an update! Loyalty Missions and/or DLC!
September 3, 2015
Nineteenth Visit
Level 26 Sentinel
Throw Lv 3
Warp Lv 2
Tech Armor - Power Armor Lv 4
Overload Lv 2
Cryo Blast Lv 1
Defender - Guardian Lv 4
Slam - Crippling Slam Lv 4
-Finally found some time! Wish we had a little more time, but progress was made.
-Playtime consisted of Miranda's Loyalty mission, Zaeed's Loyalty mission, and squeezed in time for Normandy Crash Site and some ship conversations.
-I took over for much of the playtime since Dany had to eat, but as always, followed commands.
-Dany had Shepard let Miranda shoot Niket, and let Zaeed pursue his prey. She wasn't cool about leaving the refinery workers to fry, but accepted it for the goal of loyalty.
-Dany is still not too impressed with Miranda, nor the camera ass shots, but doesn't seem to dislike her exactly as much as before... I think. Zaeed is still a 100% no-go and she's at best completely apathetic to his fate. Still more likely to gush over Grunt or Mordin, by far.
-Yay flamethrower! Doesn't trump the Collector heavy weapon, but almost.
-The Crash Site was nice. A good reflection. Dany put the tribute in front of the big 'NORMANDY SR-1' part.
-A soft spot for Samara kinda 
. Dany likes asari .
-Reached 4 bars Renegade! Glowing eyes! At this rate, it'll be a full Renegade meter by the end. 2.5 bars Paragon.
-Seems most likely that Liara romance continuation will be happening. Will update at LOTSB.
That's enough Loyalty for now. Tali and Legion will wait for later. Time to move more into side content.
Next up:
-Firewalker and Overlord
-various N7 mission tour (I have them tagged on the map)
-Lair of the Shadow Broker
-galaxy tour (sidemissions and shops)
Getting there!! About a few more visits, so crossing my fingers that we'll be done ME2 by at least the end of the year, making ME3 a 2016 goal before the next game is released.
Really interesting to follow this 1st-time play-through.
I would like to know how she reacts to the minor characters in the game and some of the stuff that is overflowing this forum (character development through the trilogy, Tali under her mask etc.)
Happy hunting 
Really interesting to follow this 1st-time play-through.
I would like to know how she reacts to the minor characters in the game and some of the stuff that is overflowing this forum (character development through the trilogy, Tali under her mask etc.)
Happy hunting
I'll try to remember that stuff for you, no problem
A good rule is that she's both inquisitive and... renegade as hell. So she's likely to enjoy characters that explain a lot or punch things a lot. Seeing Wrex become leader was a joyous occasion, while seeing Kaidan again was just meh. I don't think she has particularly strong opinions about the state of the larger arcs but this may change in ME3.
Seems that my GPU is broken so the series may have to go on a break until I have a replacement, sooner (this year) or later (next year).
November 19, 2015
Twentieth Visit
Level 28 Sentinel
Throw Lv 3
Warp Lv 2
Tech Armor - Power Armor Lv 4
Overload Lv 3
Cryo Blast Lv 1
Defender - Guardian Lv 4
Slam - Crippling Slam Lv 4
-Long break! Much longer than I'd have liked. If we're to hit a goal of completing the trilogy by MEA's release (late 2016-early 2017), it might be a good idea to skip the ME2 N7 missions, but we still have some things to do before deciding that.
-Playtime consisted of Firewalker and then Lair of the Shadow Broker, but we ran out of time at the post-plot exploration of the Base so we'll be doing that next time (and 1-2 more visits afterward and post-game to check over it again).
-I had controls the whole time for sake of expediency, but Dany had RP command.
-Mordin and Grunt the whole time except with Liara! They may stay the go-to group.
-Liara romance is still considered active by the game, but Dany BARELY recognized it. Hug Liara? Nah. Reassure her? Nah. Show compassion? Nah. But she draws in Liara anyway! It may be destinyyyyy. It was hilarious at times.
-Nearly 4.5 bars Renegade, 2.5 bars Paragon. Didn't have enough Intimidate to stop the hostage taking of Vasir, but it actually ended up more appropriate for Dany to take the shot anyway.
Next up:
-Finishing Shadow Broker Base visit
-Overlord
-deciding if N7 mission tour is worth it
-at least some kind of galaxy tour
ME2 might not be finished by the end of the year, but we'll almost certainly be in a place do just do the final stretch of Legion-->Tali Loyalty-->Legion Loyalty-->Suicide Mission without distraction, next year. 4-6 more visits to finish ME2 by my calculations and depending on circumstances and what we decide to complete, so still SOME hope it can be done this year.
Wow finally updated!
March 2, 2016
Twenty First Visit
Level 29 Sentinel
Throw Lv 3
Warp Lv 2
Tech Armor - Power Armor Lv 4
Overload - Heavy Overload Lv 4
Cryo Blast Lv 1
Defender - Guardian Lv 4
Slam - Crippling Slam Lv 4
-Wasn't even sure if we'd do anymore, but we did! And possibly 1-2 more visits this month.
-Definitely skipping N7 missions. Or rather, I may do some to all of them, then Dany and I go over Mass Effect Wiki to catch up on their minimal story.
-Playtime consisted of touring the Shadow Broker Base and all of Overlord. Controls were her at first, then me as we had to speed up for timing.
-Mordin and Grunt, duh! Now you're dead!
-Still 4.5 bars Renegade, 2.5 bars Paragon.
-David's sounds were grating to Dany's ears. Make it stop indeed...
-But the story was fairly interesting, and Dany's heartstrings were pulled at the end. Paragon interrupted Archer and took David away. No way is Cerberus getting their hands on him!
-Skipped Data Hounding and grabbing all stuff, too much of a rush.
The order is secured now, so next up is:
1)I may do as many N7 missions as I can. Otherwise Dany visits to try to cover whatever is mission from the hub planets.
2)Reaper IFF, Normandy Ambush
3)Tali's Loyalty with Legion in party
4)Legion's Loyalty with maybe Tali in party
5)Collector Base
6)Arrival
With trips to Shadow Broker base in between, maybe. We'll try not to make this 6 visits though, but as close to 3-4 as possible. Time to MOVE ON to ME3 sometime, sheesh.
March 24, 2016
Twenty Second Visit
Level 30 Sentinel
Throw Lv 3
Warp Lv 2
Tech Armor - Power Armor Lv 4
Overload - Heavy Overload Lv 4
Cryo Blast Lv 1
Defender - Guardian Lv 4
Slam - Crippling Slam Lv 4
-Pizza and progress!
-N7 missions may actually happen, but only if I alone feel like it, and not before Suicide Mission at this rate, but between Suicide Mission and Arrival.
-Playtime consisted of a tour to see what could be grabbed from shops in hubs, some sidemissions in this hubs, and Reaper IFF/Legion's Recruitment and Tali's Loyalty. If there was some more time, we'd have done Legion's Loyalty, but next time I guess.
-Mordin. Grunt. But brought Legion to Tali's Loyalty, duh. Was fun!
-Now near total (5) Renegade, still 2.5 bars Paragon.
-Dani found Reaper IFF to be very zombie and was confident she would have died a lot of times if she was directly playing it.
-She seems to like Legion! Not sure if it'll be enough for her to use him on the SM, but still seems more likable than up to half the rest. I think she likes the insights on the Geth and Reapers.
-Dany doesn't feel especially close to Tali, but still seems respectful of her and desiring of a positive outcome. To demonstrate, there was no hug given to Tali and little sympathy for her father, and we even had to go on Mass Effect Wiki to metagame how giving the data to the trial would affect the Rannoch Peace option, but in the end, the Renegade option at the trial seemed appropriate and what Dany Would Do, and it was done in the name of defending a crewmate, even if not one she was especially friends with. Veetor was traumatized from being handed over to Cerberus so there was no [Rally The Crowd] option, or else Dani might have taken it.
Since N7 missions are either not being done or are postponed, and we're not going for any other exact completionism (just going to try to keep everyone alive and Loyal? Though 1-3ish SM deaths, especially if non-appealing characters, may be acceptable), we may be able to get this game done in 2 more visits. Then we can more easily move back and forth and use cloud saves for ME3.
1)Legion's Loyalty (and Normandy Ambush)
2)Suicide Mission
3)??? (Do I try for semi-completionism alone?)
3/4)Arrival
So now we'll definitely finish ME2 soon, hopefully by end of April, and then its a realistic possibility to finish ME3 by MEA's release. Woo!
May 25, 2016
Twenty Third Visit
Level 30 Sentinel
Throw Lv 3
Warp Lv 2
Tech Armor - Power Armor Lv 4
Overload - Heavy Overload Lv 4
Cryo Blast Lv 1
Defender - Guardian Lv 4
Slam - Crippling Slam Lv 4
-Due to several factors, took more weeks then hoped for.
-But finished ME2!!!!! Almost. Playtime consisted of Legion's Loyalty and the Suicide Mission. We were going to cut the SM short but she was interested enough to complete it.
-Mordin. Grunt. Duh. All sections.
-Almost total Renegade, but got enough Paragon by the end to make it at least almost 3 bars.
-Also took that date with Liara. Ended relatively platonic, just like Dany likes it. Dany is fighting for survival, not love and the lives of everyone.
-Legion's Loyalty was fun. Dany decided to Rewrite. Not because she cared, but because she didn't. Geth are neato but neither loved or hated. Kinda the same towards Legion. Legion spoke as though his programs were at a tie about the decision, but technically there were more for rewrite than destruction, so Dany gave the go ahead.
-In the Suicide Mission, everyone was entering in recruited, alive, and loyal. Kasumi was vents (meh Tali, ehh Legion), Garrus then Miranda were fire teams (screw Jacob), Jack was biotic bubble (meh Samara), and Tali was escort (squishy, and Dany wanted to keep Mordin in squad of course).
-Nuked the final boss but only took down 1/2 because wasn't full ammo.
-Tali/Legion conflict was Paragoned because apparently there wasn't a high enough Renegade score/ratio to get it done 
. Dany should have been a little meaner! Dany could have just agreed with one of them and patch up after, but she didn't actually agree with one of them so Paragon it was.
-Destroyed the Base. Felt right. TIM wasn't respected anyway.
-Everyone made it.
Next up is checking over everything left (do I do all N7s? I dunno), and Arrival DLC. Then ME3 begins, I suppose, this summer.
Whoops. Last two visits happened but I forgot to post.
June 26, 2016
Twenty Fourth Visit
Level 30 Sentinel
Throw Lv 3
Warp Lv 2
Tech Armor - Power Armor Lv 4
Overload - Heavy Overload Lv 4
Cryo Blast Lv 1
Defender - Guardian Lv 4
Slam - Crippling Slam Lv 4
-Finished ME2 (Arrival) and moved on to ME3! Just began Vancouver. Didn't do N7s, oh well.
-Sad. No Mordin and Grunt. Sad.
-Dany could tell something was wrong with Kenson. She has a keen mind.
-Renegade all the way, pretty much.
-Survived all waves of Object Rho. YOUR MIND WILL BE MINE.
July 23, 2016
Twenty Fifth Visit
Level 33 Sentinel
Throw Rank 5
Warp Rank 2
Lift Grenade Rank 0
Tech Armor Rank 4
Overload Rank 4
Cryo Blast Lv 1
Offensive Mastery Rank 4
Fitness Rank 0
Slam Rank 3
-Mass Effect 3 finally begins! Emo from being stuck on Earth and not doing anything about the Reapers, Dany takes on a darker hair color.
-Vancouver and Mars completed, as well as visiting the Council.
-Get outta here kid!
-Stow it, James!
-Dany noticed Liara's face was more sparkly.
-Stow it, TIM!
-Stupid James is stupid ramming things.
-Renegade is 3/4 the morality, with Reputation nearly 1/5 full.
-Next up is seeing Kaidan in the hospital, finishing exploring the Citadel, Normandy and galaxy map, and unknown for main missions. Obviously either From Ashes or Menae.
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